mountainguy01

Nice pics. We were the group of two day tripin' it (9.5 hours rt). Nice to put a face to NOLSe and Pandora. Sounds like you guys had a great trip.

Hopefully pics will follow in a few days. We did not protect the snow gully at all, but that depends on your comfort level. Ascending the gully most parties went straight up into some 3/4 class scrambling with snow and ice, we went left and bypassed it all on a snowslope. There are plenty of anchors on the route, mostly OLD slings. There is one pin at the "crux". The first rap off the west side of the gully (note: the rap starts at the top of the gully and traverses west across the main gully, I believe Becky notes this route as the chimney route(?))required down climbing a short snow arete in very soft snow with a some exposure. A 70m rope would reach it, but we only had a 60m, thus having to downclimb to the first rap station. Also note that the the forth rap goes straight down from the anchors and not down the chimney. There are anchors all the way down the route and many should be replaced. Overall, the downclimb/rappel was just slow and tedious.

Climb: Forbidden Peak-West Ridge Date of Climb: 6/16/2004 Trip Report: What a great climb! A friend and I left the parking lot (MP 22) at 4:30 am and headed up the road and up into Boston Basin. For the most part, the basin is still completely snow and nearby routes up Sahale look awesome. The gully going up to the west ridge was in great shape and we were fortunate to have two other in front of us kicking steps the entire way up. There is a hard layer of snow on top with a nice deep wet snow a foot below. Note: the gully is horrible when the snow is soft. Once on the ridge, the first "pitch" is completely snow and about 15% of the route is still snow, though someone might be able to argue with me. The picture in Selected Climbs V.1 of the summit is exactly what it looked like on Wednesday. We were planning on descending the East ledges, but most of the ledges were snow covered so we decided to down climb/rappel the west ridge (what a tedious task) and then rappel the chimneys west of the snow gully. Besides getting the rope stuck on the west ridge descent and rapping down a wrong gully, the trip was great with fantastic weather. There were two other parties on the route, one of which was a photographer. Overall, a great route, and easily doable in a day. Upon arriving back to the car there was a note from the NPS stating the road would be closed further down at ~MP 19.5, and it looks like they are beginning to fix the washouts. Gear Notes: Small rack 60m Rope (wish to have had a 70m) Approach Notes: Cascade River Road closed at MP 19.5

"This is getting funny--cc.com Mt. Baker takeover." Interesting you mention that...I, as well as another non-cc.com'er, were up there Sunday for a nice jaunt up to Helio and back. Figured since my plans were cancelled for climbing it this last weekend, I might as well see what the conditions were like, and...I think the right decision was made. Did anyone summit on Sunday? Steve R

Sounds like a great trip, I know it is on the list of some one you might know also. I just might be interested... PM me if you want a young kid to tag along...Hope you are doing well and if you have forgotten who I am then just remember the long slog/bush wack on Challenger.

I have pair of Super Mountain 8s and have had them for about 5 year and have done almost everything in them from climbing 5.8's to Rainier. I have a pair of Charlet Moser Rapidfix S12s (step-ins) that I use and they work just fine. They are a great all around mountain boot, but as you mentioned, they are bulky and don't edge to well on snow or ice. Overall they are a great boot, but they did pack out about 1/2 a size and now they are kind of "sloppy".

Rochester, You are probably right about how long the route will last, but the temps have dropped a bit so I would be hopeful that it will last for a week or so. As for the the amount of groups on the S. Arete, we were up-down-and-out. Thanks for add'l comments. Were you on the S. Arete or up there skiing?

A few... American Alpine Institute REI (their stock is getting "larger") Sportsman Chalet (They are talking about getting gear)

Climb: SEWS-SW Coulior Date of Climb: 4/10/2004 Trip Report: Tara and I started with the masses of skiers and snowbarders in the bowl behind the Bell group and were probably the only ones without skis or snowboard (I wish I had brought mine). The snow conditions were perfect and barely any postholing (a little in the trees). The snow in the coulior was great though sparse compared to previous years. There is one section in the coulior where the rock is showing, about 3/4 way up. The route will probably last another few weeks (if that). Round trip time: 3 hr 40 min. Brought lots of extra gear and didn't use any of it, just ice axe and crampons. Downclimbed the route. Gear Notes: Picket (didn't use) Screw (didn't use) Pro (didn't use) Rope (didn't use) Snow Shoes (didn't bring) Ice Axe Crampons Approach Notes: Snow from start and very distict trail, follow the ski and boot tracks!

Why not ignore those who trouble you, it is ones own decision to read something or not. This is not an EXCLUSIVE site and should not become one. There are a select number of individuals on this site who "ruffle the feathers" of others and have led to their dismissal. People have a right to discuss issues of their choice, and it is hoped that it is climbing on this site. If it is irrelevant to climbing then it goes to spray. If people don't like something, then ignore it.

The new REI quarter dome is very short, people over 5'9" have complained about their heads being against the wall.

Western!

What: Arc'TeryxTheta LT Pant Size: Large Color: Cinder Price: $150US Used: Twice I got these pants and love them but they are to large for myself. They have a small tear (1.5") that is repaired. They are in excellent condition and have barely, if ever, been used. PM if interested. Steve

My partner and I were up there and saw the incident. It was right were the trail cuts up to climb. There was a mother goat and two of her babies. The owner was way behind and the dog came up and saw the goat. My partner tried to grab the dog, but couldn't. The dog (German Shepard) ran for the goat and the goat sparred the dog with both its horn underneath its belly and tossed the dogged. It was like seeing something on the Discovery channel! The dog was gushing blood from it's underside so we helped the lady clean the wound a bit and tied it up to stop the bleeding. She was from Mazama so I hope the dog made it. But wow...as much as I hated seeing the dog get crushed by this goat, it was an awesome sight to see. Nature at its finest. And I am sure the dog won't touch a goat again. But the funny thing is the lady mentioned that the dog does the same thing with deer. Hmmm...may be the dog will be on the leash next time? Then after that we went and climbed a few peaks but that was definately one of the high points of the trip.

Besides the sun and a slight breeze, sure glad we cancelled the plans for the NE ridge due to weather this past weekend. It looked awesome!

The new Tikka Plus is great: POSITIVE: adjustable head 4 LED's 4 light settings (Bright, Medium, Low, and flashing) The bright setting has a "good" focal point NEGATIVE: Turn-on button can be easily turned on when in pack (old version worked better) Battery tended to burn faster on high setting /5

REI does not carry the Bellingham Rock Guide, Basecamp is the only place that I know carries it. Or just get a hold of Jason, I know he is working on a new one.

Awesome pics and TR. Can't wait to do it! Hey Fairweather! I bet your little brother is stronger, faster, will climb in any weather, and I am sure he is better looking too. You better watch out... ...and Mowich Face is in the picture now? Works for me...

Skied Ruth Mt. Sunday in a blizzard! Lots of heavy fresh stuff!?! Made it all the way to Hannegan camp before we pulled the skis off.

We did make it up the Roman Wall. It wasn't a problem, just wouldn't want to slip. There were a few slings on the rocks right above the wall that people were rapping off but it wan't neccessary. It is possible to traverse over to the Easton and up.

Climbed the Coleman-Deming Sat. and was in pretty good condition. We left the trailhead at 6:30am and summited at 1:00pm. Above heliotrope the shrund is pretty big and you traverse right on the bottom lip of it. At about 8500' there are a few snow bridges to cross and they are very solid. Right after you pass underneath Colfax there is 50-60 degree serac (if you want to call it that) that you must climb over (~15 vertical feet)and then traverse a thin snow ridge for ~100 feet. The Roman Wall is water ice covered with rime ice at about 10'000'. One can easily traverse over to the Easton and up for an easier ascent to the summit. The entire route is very straight forward and is hard ice/snow. Didn't use a rope and at the top it was clear and no wind. This trip definately made up for the previous weekend of getting to the Col and turning around in a blizzard. There is some nice steep water ice setting up near heliotrope and higher on the mountain too.

Was up there last weekend and make it to the top in 5hr 48min. You don't need crampons unless you want to get on the snow. It is possible to get the summit sloshing up scree only. The only snow you will have to cross is at the saddle between the False summit and the actual peak, but it is flat. The cabin at top is almost completely out but still filled with snow inside. Easily done in a day. There was a 69 year old guy up there and plenty of people in tennis shoes at the top. Have fun. NOTE: I will never go up Adams that late in the season again.

Did Coleman-Deming. Cake walk, some pretty nice snow bridges and even had the excitement of watching a guy glissade with the crampons on and watch the leg break. Snow was solid until 10:00 and there is a highway up.

This is not really a new issue. There have been many environmental organizations/groups that have purchased forest land/private land so that it can be protected. The Northwest Ecosystem Alliace bought the Loomis Forest in Washington with all state public raised money. Paul Allen even gave $3.5 million. The Nature Conservancy just spent $31.25 million to create Great Sand Dunes National Park. If environmental groups are going to buy forest land then they need to buy the timber stands AND the land that the trees are on. That is what a timber company does, except most of the time the timber companies get subsidizes for the road building, etc., thus having the taxpayers front the bill. The U.S. lost over $1.05 billion on below cost timber sales between 1995-97 and spent $245 million in 1992-94 to build roads for forest companies to access public land according to the GAO. And by letting the groups buy the land we don't have to deal with them chaining themselves to trees or "spiking" the timber creating even more problems. And we sure DON'T NEED another Julia Butterfly. Also, in a capitalistic society we act in a free market economy. So let the highest bidder take the land. [ 02-25-2002: Message edited by: mountainguy01 ]

It is called the Grivel "3rd Tool" to be exact and is very functional and light.